A study of the use of electronic information systems by higher education students in the UK

This paper reports findings from the first annual cycle of a three-year res earch project on the provision and use of electronic information systems (E IS) within higher education in the UK. The project. JISC User Surveys: Tren ds in Electronic Information Services (JUSTEIS), was funded by the Joint In formation Systems Committee (JISC) and undertaken at the University of Wale s, Aberystwyth (UWA). Students, academics and library staff in 25 universit ies were surveyed using critical incident and critical success factors meth odologies to ascertain the range and nature of EIS use. Provision of these systems by higher education institutions: was also investigated via an anal ysis of their library websites. The findings reported in this paper focus o n student use and the purposes for which EIS are employed, acid reveal the limited array of EIS used and the ad hoc nature of search strategies adopte d across undergraduate and postgraduate bodies within a range of discipline s. There appears to be little or no variation in the pattern of EIS use by the various student groups studied - the effect of the Internet on informat ion seeking by students: is hugely significant and the more formal resource s, such as JISC-negotiated resources are little used. There is little evide nce of coherent search strategies used by students. Recommendations for bot h the JISC and higher education are offered.